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Two Iraqis living in Kentucky have been arrested on charges that they tried to send sniper rifles, stinger missiles, and money to al-Qaeda operatives in their home country, according to court documents unsealed today. Thirty-year-old Waad Ramadan Alwan and 23-year-old Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, who both have lived in Bowling Green since 2009, were charged in a 23-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury Thursday.

I’ve always thought two things about terrorists:

1- if their leaders are so bent on jihad, why don’t they ever strap a bomb to themselves?

And

2- If the country they’re fighting for is so awesome, why don’t they stay there?

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And it truly is a relief not to have to wear the crown. And now that I’m free of that odious responsibility I plan to write a ‘tell all’ book about all those bloggers I’ve come to know (and know lots about through very private communiques) over the years of my reign. You know, like when a politician leaves office and dishes all the dirt on their colleagues.

Highlights will include but will not be limited to anecdotes about bloggers from Scotland, California, Texas, England, New York, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and many others! If you think the CIA found out lots about al-Qaeda when bin Laden was killed, you haven’t seen any ‘treasure trove’ of delightful dirt yet!

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That’s the question which popped into my head when I looked at JRDK’s newest posting titled something a bit different: Weaker Sibling Revisited.

Is it really the same thing for us to say, “Don’t drink so that you won’t offend your fundamentalist brother,” as it was for Paul to say, “Don’t eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that will cause a Jewish person to act against Torah in opposition to the dictates of his conscience?” It might be that there is an important parallel, perhaps as we see it worked out also in 1 Corinthians with the question of meat sacrificed to idols.

Read his not at all ponderous ponderings on the topic.

[Begin snarky comment not at all to be taken seriously so don’t get all up in my grill about it- chill]

I think Paul was probably just expressing his own opinion again about worrying over other people’s precious little ‘feelings’. He should have inserted ‘I say, not the Lord…’ etc.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, is prepared to place a formal application for UN membership before the Security Council next month triggering a major confrontation with Israel. If it wins Security Council backing, the Palestinian leadership plans to present its statehood bid to the UN General Assembly in September, when a two year plan to build the institutions necessary for a functioning state reach fruition. Mr Obama categorically opposed the Palestinian bid and indicated that the United States would wield its veto. Palestinian officials said it would be hypocritical for the West to back the Fayyad plan but to reject its “logical outcome”, especially when statehood was being conferred on much less developed territories. “Isn’t it shameful to have South Sudan as a state and not Palestine?” said Mustafa Barghouti, a favourite to become the new Palestinian foreign minister when a unity government is announced in the next few weeks.

Isn’t that a good question? ‘South Sudan’ was jumped on almost instantly, so why not a Palestinians State? Because Obama is afraid of losing an election. He’s serving at the beck and call of Bibi and AIPAC, and everyone with an open eye can see it.

It’s time to pressure the government to the same extent as AIPAC does. And then some. Because it is shameful what’s gone on for so long now and history will despise us for it.

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Radiation from cell phones can possibly cause cancer, the World Health Organization said today. The agency lists mobile phone use in the same “carcinogenic hazard” category as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform.

You know what else can kill you, sciency people? Being born. Indeed, being born is the greatest cause of death known to humankind. Perhaps science should wrestle with that for a while and come up with a way to discouraging people from having children since, poor things, they will eventually all die!

[Fear mongering- it’s what science does best because it’s always looking for something to ‘fix’. That’s the only way it can justify its existence.]

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That the New Testament knows more words for ‘praying’ than it does for ‘loving’. Words for ‘pray’ include αιτεω, δεομαι, δοξαζω, ερωταω, ευλογεω, ευχαριστεω, λατρευω, and προσευχεω.

That strikes me as quite interesting indeed. (Oh and by the way, of the five Greek words rendered ‘love’ only 4 occur in the New Testament). Maybe Christians should be a bit more concerned with prayer than they are since the New Testament speaks far more widely of it.

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You can read the pdf here. I apologize if you already knew of its existence, and the existence of The Bavinck Institute. It’s fairly new and as Bavinck was a fascinating and terribly gifted Reformed theologian, perhaps worthy of a bit of your time.

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Colombian Christians remained on high alert Saturday, May 28, amid reports that leftist rebels have been killing “many of their own” men after discovering they were Christians, a Christian rights group said. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were conducting “an internal purge, reportedly killing many of their own men and accusing them of being traitors to the Communist cause,” said Voice Of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC), which investigates the persecution of Christians in several countries. “It is suspected that many of those killed were secret Christians,” VOMC told BosNewsLife in a statement, citing local Christians. It was not immediately clear how many people were killed.

All of which reminds us- we should pray for Columbia, and its Christians.

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Calvin wasn’t just a good theologian and exegete, he was something of a forward looking Prophet! Buried deep within one of his commentaries is actually a note predicting the appearance of Joel Watts!!!! But don’t take my word for it- be a Berean and check it out for yourself-

In this chapter, Moses explains, that man, after he had been deceived by Satan (Joel Watts) revolted from his Maker, became entirely changed and so degenerate, that the image of God, in which he had been formed, was obliterated. He then declares, that the whole world, which had been created for the sake of man, fell together with him from its primary original; and that in this ways much of its native excellence was destroyed.

If that isn’t a description of what Joel has done, what is? Degenerate, obliterated, excellence destroyed… It’s Joel to a tee! I marvel at Calvin’s clarity of thought. Again.

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Just after midnight Monday, convoys of buses carrying 1,600 Jewish worshippers began driving into Nablus in waves for prayers at Joseph’s Tomb. Escorted by olive-drab army jeeps and dozens of ground troops, it was the biggest group to reach the site since the military began regularly allowing visits four years ago. The lead bus was crammed to perhaps twice its capacity with ultra-Orthodox Jews in long black coats, settler teens in jeans and T-shirts, and girls in long skirts. There was an air of anticipation and, as time wore on, a sour smell of perspiration. When the buses finally moved into Nablus, Israeli soldiers in battle gear were visible securing the route, standing by closed shops and clumped beside a Bank of Palestine ATM. Organizers, members of the hard core of Israel’s settlement movement, see the visits to the traditional gravesite of the biblical Joseph as a mix of religious duty, assertion of ownership and show of force. For many observant Jews, Nablus is part of the biblical land promised to the Jews by God. “These are our roots,” said Gilad Levanon, a 22-year-old Jewish seminary student, who was among the worshippers this week. “We have a strong belief that this is our role in this world — to continue the path of our fathers, despite momentary interference.”

Yes, displacing people and teaching your children to write messages of hate on artillery shells aligns nicely with ‘a light to the nations’. Who taught this young man that darkness is light and light is darkness? That right is wrong and wrong is right? And how is this disposition any different than the disposition of the Florida Pastor and his Quran burning? Or the Westboro (not) Baptist (not) Church’s hate mongering?

In sum, what makes Jewish fundamentalists any different from Muslim fundamentalists or Christian fundamentalists? And why aren’t they excoriated in the American media to the same degree as the others are?

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Steve Inskeep had a fascinating interview with a Pakistani intellectual this morning which highlighted, I think, the problem we face today. That is, our tendency, as Americans, to think that the whole world revolves around us.

This point was made rather subtly when Inskeep asked why the killing of bin Laden didn’t seem to be making the Pakistanis happy. The response, ‘how has it changed my life?’

Indeed. We seem to think that what’s good and exciting for us is good and exciting for everyone.

Question: I want to make sure that Americans understand this. Why would this be a moment for depression? Because the last big event was that bin Laden was killed — the good guys won. Why wouldn’t that be a moment for exhilaration or opportunity?

Answer: For you, in the U.S., it was a big event. For us, where does it change things for us for the better? He was somebody the U.S. was looking for, and they got him. So what has happened to us? Where were we in all this? We’ve had the same amount of bombings — in fact, more. There have been retaliatory bombings, or not retaliatory, because they have been going on. So what difference has it made to my life? My life is as uncertain as it was before. In my life, I see violence every day. Today, for example — I’m just coming from the court — two people were murdered inside the court. Inside the courtroom. For us, life is tough here. Very tough. If bin Laden is dead, do you think I’m not threatened?

Why are we Americans so parochial? Maybe more of us need to travel outside our own borders- both physically and intellectually.

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In 1942 Karl Barth was asked that question in a letter from an American Pastor. In October Barth replied in a lengthy note (which also answered other questions the unknown Pastor asked. Barth simply addressed the letter to a ‘dear friend’.)

It is an interesting question and Barth’s answer runs to 3 big pages.

This letter, and many other brilliant and timely pieces are included in a volume titled Eine Schweizer Stimme. The book contains little occasional pieces by Barth during the war years, 1938-1945.

Barth may have been wrong about some things and he may have been too dismissive of his theological superior, Brunner. And he was certainly wrong to disdain Zwingli. But one thing you have to give the guy- he was engaged with what was going on in the world and he applied theology to life. Unlike so many of our contemporaries in the fields of theology and biblical studies.

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What do you get when you cross the KKK with Westboro (not) Baptist (not) Church? Hate in a mirror.

Protesting members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church were met with an unlikely group of counter-protesters Monday at Arlington Cemetery. Hours before President Barack Obama led the nation’s Memorial Day observances at the Tomb of the Unknowns, three members of the Westboro Baptist Church were challenged by others who disagreed with them — including members claiming to be from the Ku Klux Klan. … Among those counter-protesting at the cemetery’s main entrance: About 10 members of a group that claims to be a branch of the Ku Klux Klan from Virginia called the Knights of the Southern Cross. They were cordoned off separately in a nearby area, but drew little attention as they gave out small American flags behind a banner that read “POW-MIA.”

Toss in the ‘burn the Quran’ lunatic from Florida and you’d have the perfect confluence of ignorance, bigotry, and stupidity. Then, put them all in a cage (like a UFC match) and let them go at each other until there’s only one person standing. And then arrest that one for assault and toss him in prison for the rest of his unnatural life. Fight fire with fire, in other words, and let the flames of hate extinguish themselves in a flurry.